Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Can government help?

It has been said that government is not the answer to society’s problems. While this may be true in part, I believe that good government can go a long way towards looking out for the interests of individuals and families.
Look at the recent credit card law that was passed and just went into effect. The new law protects cardholders from devious and deceptive practices that credit card companies have been engaging in for years. Before the law was passed many credit card companies applied payments towards balances in any way that they saw fit and that increased their bottom line (which I guess if you think about it, really is just smart business). Many companies were also known to raise interest rates with little or no notice and charge interest retroactively on balances that were already paid (also known as double-cycle-billing).
Now since the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act has become law, these companies are being forced to play fair and apply payments to older, higher interest rate balances first. This allows people to have a fighting chance to pay down their balances. As a result the “0% interest for 90 days” type deals that a lot of us are bombarded with everyday might stop coming in the mail… big deal!
My point is that business can not self-regulate like many people claim it can. Look at what happened when business was allowed to de-regulate during the Bush administration. Banks and other financial institutions engaged in extremely risky practices and when it all came crashing down we were left holding the tab! Business needs rules and guidelines otherwise they will run amok over the rest of us on their way to higher profits. I do believe that there is a very fine line between too much government intervention and not enough; too much could possibly hurt the businesses and not enough could hurt the consumer. It is the ability to know were that line is drawn that is so important.
I think that the government really can help and really does solve problems when there is mutual collaboration and there are people involved that want to get things done. What we really need is a truly bi-partisan Congress, which can work together in implementing the people’s ideas; a Congress that is not just two parties divided, but a Congress of people working together.

6 comments:

  1. The credit card law is a good point. It's a law that affects a lot of people and, I think, in a good way. This is definitely a good example of government doing a great job.

    Businesses cannot and WILL not self-regulate. A business has its best interests at heart, not the public's.

    I agree with your bottom line. If only people worked for the greater good of all...

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  2. Ditto what Becky said. It is so unfortunate, but business is business, which seems to be defined by only looking out for the bottom line, not people. Although, I have heard rare stories of businesses that are successful and care about people (and the environment) too.
    I agree that we need a well balanced government whose job is to look out for the best interests of the people. That should go without saying...why does it seem that government has turned into a business?

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  3. Becky, you said it! Business is out to make money and nothing else! That was my point, that business left to itself CAN'T self-regulate.

    Susan, you are right. It does seem like our government has turned into a business instead of looking out for OUR interest...

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  4. All good thoughts. The trouble with the governmant self regulating is that there are to many political interests involved. Also they have big guns!!!

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  5. Don,
    That is why no one party is in control for too long...checks and balances. It is a constant tug of war between the various interests. It would be nice though to not have so much big business "buying" in and disrupting the balance.

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  6. Susan, you're right, some businesses--like my boss's daycare--are definitely in it for the RIGHT reasons.

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